Egide Ntakarutimana wins the TCS Lidingoloppet 15km in Lidingö (© Organisers)
Burundi’s Egide Ntakarutimana and Francine Niyomukunzi will lead the fields when the Sparkassen Cross Pforzheim makes its debut as a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting on Saturday (14).
Having previously been a Silver-level fixture, the event returns as the first Gold-level meeting in Germany and doubles as a qualification event for home athletes looking to compete at the European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade in December.
Ntakarutimana will be targeting a third Cross Country Tour Gold win of the season after his victories in Lidingö and Amorebieta-Etxano.
Prior to that, he finished second over 5000m at the Wanda Diamond League Final and achieved top 10 finishes at both the World Athletics Ultimate Championship and the World Athletics Road Running Championships.
His PBs set this year include a national record of 12:46.73, which was the second-quickest 5000m of the season, as well as 7:28.13 for 3000m, 13:12 for 5km and 1:00:34 for the half marathon.
Looking to challenge him in the 7.5km race will be his compatriot Célestin Ndikumana who finished 11th in the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships. He makes his cross-country season debut after finishing third in the Campaccio, won by Ntakarutimana, in January.
They will be joined by Belgium’s world 5000m silver medallist Isaac Kimeli, who competes for the first time since the European Championships in Birmingham in August, and his compatriot Robin Hendrix, 2023 European cross-country bronze medallist.
Markus Görger is entered to defend his title but the German champion has not competed since the European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa in December.
The entry list also includes Ireland’s Efrem Gidey and Great Britain’s Rory Leonard, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Cross Country Tour Silver meeting in San Sebastián at the start of this month.
Like Ntakarutimana, Niyomukunzi lines up in Pforzheim following victory in Lidingö and she went on to finish second in Amorebieta-Etxano and sixth in Seville.
Prior to her cross-country campaign, she finished 18th in the 5km at the World Road Running Championships and improved her PBs to 8:33.27 for 3000m and 14:41.46 for 5000m this year. Niyomukunzi also holds multiple national records, including 30:42 for 10km set in 2024.
At the start of the year, she finished second at the Campaccio, an event she won in 2024.
Italy’s Elvanie Nimbona was third at this year's Campaccio and the pair race again. Nimbona also finished third in Albufeira in February and contested the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships before winning Italian 10km and half marathon titles.
Germany’s Elena Burkard returns after winning in Pforzheim last year. She then placed eighth at the European Cross Country Championships and was 10th in Seville last weekend, four places behind Niyomukunzi. Last year’s runner-up Veerle Bakker of the Netherlands also returns.
Kenya’s Caren Chepchirchir, 1500m bronze medallist at the World U20 Championships in Oregon in August, contests the U23 race alongside Germany’s European U23 cross-country bronze medallist Pia Schlattmann.
The men’s U23 competition includes Burundi’s Tharcisse Nizigiyimana and Elie Sindayikengdera, who respectively finished second and third behind Ntakarutimana in Lidingö.
